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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
People who promise, don't deliver
My father and grand
father always taught
me to honor my obli
gations and commitments.
They emphasized that a
man’s word is his bond.
If I make a commitment,
it is seared into my memory
until fulfilled. Likewise, my
sons, Bill and Tim, follow
through on their commit
ments.
I always admired U.S.
Sen. Sam Nunn, because, if
he told you something, you
could put it in the bank.
Some people can look you
squarely in the eye, utter
a promise, walk away, and
conveniently forget it.
Untrustworthiness is a
negative reflection on one’s
upbringing and value sys
tem.
A friend had a new roof
installed by an out-of-town
roofing contractor. His crew
came late and left early. One
evening at quitting time,
they left a section of roof
unfinished.
That night it rained heav
ily and damaged the living
room ceiling.
The roofing contractor
promised to fix the damaged
room once the roofing job
Rev. Joyce Payne
leading local retreat
submitted
Andrew United Methodist
Women will hold their annu
al “Spiritual Day Apart,”
for all women Saturday,
beginning at 9 a.m. with a
meet-and-greet time with
coffee an doughnuts in the
church’s new community
building.
This has become an annu
al event at the church.
The program, starting at
9:30 a.m. will be led by
Raising healthy, loving kids is a father’s greatest challenge
Question: What has
been your greatest chal
lenge as a father? What
did you learn from it?
DR. DOBSON: Raising
healthy, well-educated, self
disciplined children who love
God and their fellow human
beings is, I believe, the most
challenging responsibility in
life. Not even rocket science
can approach it for complexi
ty and unpredictability. And,
of course, the job is even
more difficult today when
our culture undermines and
contradicts everything par
ents are trying to accom
plish at home. Fortunately,
we are not asked to do every
thing perfectly as moms and
dads. Our kids usually man
age to survive our mistakes
and turn out better than
we have any right to boast
about.
I certainly made my share
of mistakes as a father. Like
millions of other men of my
era, I often had a tough time
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was complete.
A year later, after repeated
calls and letters, the con
tractor has not returned to
repair the damage caused by
his negligence.
To my dismay, this same
contractor re-roofed my
house.
His crew failed to leak
proof the chimney, so when
it rained, my den ceiling
was covered with unsightly
water spots.
His crew also dropped
a section of plywood that
knocked a hole in my living
room ceiling.
Add to that the failure
to install proper guttering.
Although I was saddled with
a $1,300 repair bill to correct
his mistakes, the contractor
the Rev. Joyce Payne, an
ordained Methodist minis
ter from Bonaire, as well as
a wife, mother and grand
mother.
The church is at 2430
Ga. Hwy. 124, Kathleen,
between Houston Lake
Country Club and Moody
Road.
For more information, call
Shelby Arnold, 987-1397 or
Sharon Stokes, 987-4776.
balancing the pressures
of my profession with the
needs of my family. Not that
I ever became an “absentee
father,” but I did struggle at
times to be as accessible as I
should have been. As it hap
pened, my first book, “Dare
to Discipline,” was published
the same week that our sec
ond child, Ryan, arrived.
A baby always turns a
house upside down, but the
reaction to my book added
to the turmoil. I was a full
time professor at a medical
school, and yet I was inun
dated by thousands of letters
and requests of every sort.
There was no mechanism to
handle this sudden notoriety.
I remember flying to New
York one Thursday night,
where I did 17 television
shows and press interviews
in three days, returning to
work on Monday morning.
It was nothing short of over
whelming.
My father, who always
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never offered to make resti
tution.
A plumber installed sev
eral faucets in my home.
I was having trouble with
the faucets, so I called the
plumber to request that he
remedy the problem.
He promised to drop by
my house the next day and
fix the faucets. A year later,
he is yet to show up at my
door.
Soon after I began dat
ing Beverly, I experienced a
major disappointment.
One evening I didn’t have
a car and wanted so badly to
go to Fort Valley to see her.
A friend promised to pick me
up and take me.
I waited and waited, yet
he never showed up, so I
Identity should be no problem
“Cute.”
That was my first impres
sion of the shirt worn by the
little toddler.
Then it struck me how
unnecessary the lettering,
“T-Shirt, T-Shirt, T-Shirt,”
stretched across the front of
the shirt was.
Anybody could look at the
garment and recognize it as
a t-shirt.
Of course, the lettering
was not intended for iden
tification. I was meant to be
cute, and cute it was. But,
the cute T-shirt gave me
something to think about.
I thought about the
—
Dr. lames Dobson
served as a beacon in dark
times, saw what was hap
pening to me and wrote a
letter that was to change my
life. First, he congratulated
me on my success, but then
warned that all the success
in the world would not com
pensate if I failed at home.
He reminded me that the
spiritual welfare of our chil
dren was my most impor
tant responsibility, and that
the only way to build their
faith was to model it per
"From The Old To The New"
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987-1112
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CHURCH ft RELIGION
1203 Sunset Avenue • Perry, Plaza
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Locally Owned
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Pat Kincaid
Tuesday-Friday 8:30-5:30
Saturday 8:30-12:30
headed out walking to Fort
Valley.
I had gotten two miles out
side the Perry city limits
when Mel Tolleson, travel
ing to Fort Valley to see his
girlfriend, offered me a ride.
The scriptures are replete
with godly persons whose
lives exemplified the dis
cipline of dependability—
Moses, Joseph, Joshua,
Samuel, Ester, Paul and John
the Baptist to name a few.
There are also those whose
unreliability and unfaithful
ness disappointed God.
Among them was King
Saul, who was self-centered,
selfish and lacked depend
ability.
The prophet Samuel
informed Saul that he had
failed God, saying, “Your
kingdom shall not continue.”
Another incident of untrust
worthiness was Jesus’ dis
ciples. Jesus asked them to
stand watch in Gethsemane
while He prayed.
Jesus returned to find the
disciples sound asleep.
Failure to honor commit
menlis is not only a serious
disservice to one’s neighbor,
but an affront to God.
Wmm
number of times we have
heard someone ask, “Is he
a Christian?” or “Are you a
Christian?
And I thought about the
sonally and then to stay on
my knees in prayer. That
couldn’t be done if I invested
every resource in my profes
sion. I have never forgotten
that profound advice.
It eventually led to my
resignation from the univer
sity and to the development
of a ministry that permitted
me to stay at home. I quit
accepting speaking requests,
started a radio program
that required no travel, and
refused to do “book tours” or
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Bank of Middle Georgia
Ten Commandments
f.a ’. v iffjl
■ lu B
Jouraal/Chariotte Perkins
Tuesday, Marie Lewis, standing, and Pauline Lewis,
seated, presented the Houston County Board of
Education with a number of plaques containing the
Ten Commandments, requesting that they be placed in
the public schools.
number of times we have
heard the declarations: “He
is a fine Christian man,”
“She is a wonderful Christian
woman,” or “I am proud to
accept other lengthy respon
sibilities that would take me
away from my family.
As I look back on that era
today, I am so grateful that
I chose to preserve my rela
tionship with my children.
The closeness that we enjoy
today can be traced to that
decision to make time for
them when they needed me
most. I could easily have
made the greatest mistake
of my life at that time.
I’m sure many fathers will
read this response and find
themselves today where I
was back then. If you are
one of them, I urge you to
give priority to your fam
ily. Those kids around your
feet will be grown and gone
before you know it. Don’t let
the opportunities of these
days slip away from you.
No professional accomplish
ment or success is worth
that cost. When you stand
where I am today, the rela
tionship with those you love
Perry
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FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2006
be a Christian.”
It is natural for Christians
to be concerned over the
spiritual welfare of others,
and Christians have every
reason to be proud of their
heritage. But just as the
garment could be identi
fied without the lettering,
“T-Shirt, T-Shirt, T-Shirt,”
there should be no ques
tion about the identity of a
Christian.
“If we live, we live to the
Lord and if we die, we die to
the Lord. So then, whether
we live or we die, we belong
to the Lord.” (Romans 14:8,
Amplified Bible)
will outweigh every other
good thing in your life.
** ** **
QUESTION: Would you
say that most marital
problems are caused by
sexual difficulties?
DR. DOBSON: No, the
opposite is more accurate.
Most sexual problems are
caused by marital difficul
ties. Or stated another way,
couples that have problems
in bed often have bigger
problems during the other
23 1/2 hours of the day.
** ** **
Dr. Dobson is founder and
chairman of the board of
the nonprofit organization
Focus on the Family, PO.
Box 444, Colorado Springs,
CO. 80903; or www.family.
org. Questions and answers
are excerpted from “The
Complete Marriage and
Family Home Reference
Guide” and “Bringing Up
Boys,” both published by
Tyndale House.
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Perry, Georgia 31069
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987-1965 000351181
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